Stylus pointing devices enable information to be input to a host electronic device. In addition, the longitudinal or axial component of the force, or pressure, applied to the tip of a stylus enables control of various aspects or features of a drawing application executed on a computer or other processing device. In turn, this facilitates improved simulation of some physical drawing implements. However, other physical drawing implements respond to additional characteristics, such as the angle of the drawing implement with respect to the drawing surface. A tilt or gravity sensor may be employed to measure the angle of the stylus relative to the vertical direction. However, this approach does not indicate the angle of the stylus relative to the drawing surface (except in the special case where the surface is horizontal). Handheld devices, such as tablet computers and mobile telephones, are often used in a non-horizontal orientation. It would therefore be useful to provide an expedient for determining the angle of a stylus relative to a drawing surface.